Deshaun Watson will remain with the Browns for (at least) one more season, with his latest restructure now on the books. Cleveland will look to add competition at the quarterback spot this offseason, though, and the draft is an avenue which could be used in that effort. 
The Browns enter Sunday’s action with a record of 3-12, making them a candidate for a top-five pick in April’s draft. Holding such a premier selection could open the door to adding one of the top passers in the 2025 class, depending on how the rest of the order at the top of the board shakes out. Provided the team is in position to do so, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com writes the Browns will be a candidate to select a Day 1 quarterback.
Trading for Watson and committing to a fully guaranteed five-year, $230MM contract was of course meant to provide the Browns with a long-term solution under center. The former Texan has dealt with an 11-game suspension followed by major injuries in consecutive seasons during his Cleveland tenure, however, and there is a chance he could miss time at the start of the 2025 campaign while recovering from his Achilles tear. At least one outside passer will likely be brought in to compete with Watson and Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who unlike veteran Jameis Winston is under contract for next year.
The 2024 draft produced six quarterbacks in the first 12 picks, but a repeat of that showing is not expected this time around. Only two passers are currently slated to receive consideration at the top of the board in 2025 – Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders. Cleveland could land within range of one or both, and in that event the team would no doubt spend considerable time evaluating each QB. Not long after paying three first-round picks as part of the price to acquire Watson, using a Day 1 selection on his successor would obviously not represent a wanted move on the part of general manager Andrew Berry, but Watson’s play when healthy would justify bringing in a replacement starting option.
Of course, the Browns could do so well before April. Several quarterbacks are set to hit the market, with Sam Darnold beingthe top option in free agency provided he does not re-sign with the Vikings. Minnesota wants to keep him in place (on a deal which will entail a considerable raise compared to his current pact), but failing that there will be several outside suitors. Cleveland could be one of them, and adding Darnold would provide the team with a multi-year starting option while riding out the remainder of Watson’s cumbersome contract and its salary cap implications.
Outside of Darnold, a mix of journeymen veterans and younger passers like Justin Fields and Mac Jones are on track to be available. Short-term commitments to quarterbacks in that tier could help the Browns meet their stated goal of returning to the playoffs in 2025, and success could pave the way to a new direction under center beyond that. If Cleveland elects to steer clear of a lucrative QB deal this spring, though, adding a rookie passer would increasingly become a possibility to watch for.
Never heard that before!
They had one, and he just threw 5 TDs with 350 yards.
Facts lmao
lol yep…For some reason I like seeing Baker succeed after being a castoff for a few seasons
Same
I’m sure that a player has been done dirtier by a team in recent NFL history than Mayfield was screwed over by the Browns… but I can’t think of one at the moment.
lol maybe Eli manning 2019
Maybe home town boy Pickett
You mean the guy who threw 4 picks on Christmas Day then requested a trade?
Ajc: don’t feed him
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, and try again.
Problem is the Browns have been trying for 60 years w/o success!
Jalen Milroe if he declares.
No thanks! Unless it’s the 3rd round.
Please do idiots.
Cam Ward makes them pretty dangerous
Or Cam Ward might suck. I guess anything is better than Watson. I hope they draft 7 QBs and have them battle it out. They’ll choose whichever is the closest to a POS human being.
I’d love to see them try and draft Sanders. Can you imagine the hell his old man would raise about that??
Should be an interesting draft
The same hell Hopkins had pre-trade until Cleveland opened up the checkbook…money talks.
Hopkins? You mean their kicker?
Its not official yet but Titans are looking like they may be picking the first QB in the draft. NE picking Travis Hunter with the #1 pick?
What a wild day it turned out to be.
NE might just trade down, with the limited QB talent in the draft they’d get a haul for it.
NE needs to trade down and collect picks this year and next if they ever plan to return to being an above 500 team.
I think the Titans will go hard after Darnold.
Just so it’s not Berry making the selection.
They should draft OL. And try to sign a journeyman QB.
They would he better off with Fields. I’ve never thought much of him but he wouldn’t cost a lot and could be a decent place holder. There’s really no one in this draft I would consider in the first round.
Here we go again! They had this fixed when they drafted baker, should have played Lenin and let him heal and not went chasing a sex offender.
How many more will this franchise go through?
Keenum *
Mayfield practiced during the week while he had this “injury”. It was just a pain tolerance. He wore a harness and he never lost velocity. Mayfield fans like to use his so called injury as an excuse. He threw more interceptions than TD’S. That’s decision making. He was actually worse the following season when he was supposed to be healed
There really isn’t a single positive thing to say about the trade and contract for Watson but an under the radar aspect of how big of a mistake it was is that the Browns wasted several years of the best defenses they’ve had in probably 15-20 years. Berry as a GM certainly has his faults but it seems like he is adept at identifying and drafting defensive talent. Start with that and keep adding to build an identity and culture then in a few years go QB hunting.
Drafting another Johnny Manziel will solve all the Browns problems 🙂
It’s like Deja Vu all over again.
Trade down to a different qb hungry team, drop a top LT in the 5-7 range, have your pick of the RBs in the mid rounds and bring fields back to Ohio